Field of Art
The disclosure generally relates to user interface for presenting data records as charts on a display device, and in particular to comparing data presented as charts.
Description of the Related Art
There are several ways of using charts or graphs to visually present statistical data available in reports including, for example, bar charts, pie charts, line graphs, and scatter graphs. Users often have to compare related data from one or more reports. For example, a user may want to compare reports that represent data associated with different time intervals, such as reports describing sales statistics for two different quarters. The user may view the individual reports as charts. However for comparison purposes the user may have to identify matching data points from the charts and manually compare the values. The comparison may be performed using a calculator or an analysis tool, for example, a spreadsheet. Such manual comparison can be a tedious and slow process. Alternatively, if the data is stored using a database management system, the user may be able to generate customized reports that compare data from existing reports. However, writing customized reports can be a complex task in itself, requiring expertise with the database system. Data comparison is often performed by business experts who are unlikely to also have the expertise required for handling the complexities of reporting systems. Often, enterprises engage in complex and expensive processes of gathering requirements from business experts, preparing specifications for experts in reporting systems, and go through the development cycles for preparing customized reports required by the business experts.